FW: Sudbury Bears gaining ground- the grudge match continues. Calgary Sun' Corbella joins...

[Guest guest]

------ Forwarded Message

 

Sudbury Bears gaining ground- the grudge match continues. Calgary

Sun' Corbella joins...

 

~~~~~Please Crosspost Everywhere !~~~~~~

The grudge match between animal protection people and OFAH contiunes in an

unprecedented battle in the Sudbury Star.... You can vote ONCE A DAY...so if

you voted last week-- go back and cast your vote again:

http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/

In hunter-dominated Northern Ontario, the vote managed to swing from a 21%

split to only 6%. It wouldn't take much to tip it in favour of protecting

the bears. That would *mean* something!

This is an unprecedented event for the Sudbury Star where the only other

poll that came CLOSE to the response was the war against Iraq and that issue

garnered only 1/2 the response..

Progressive Canadians CARE about what goes on with our animals and want to

make our voices heard...

Legislation that prohibits slaughtering hungry mother bears coming out of

hibernation with their young is only HUMANE! Anything else, is pure " glory

of the hunt " .

We send a strong message by our numbers alone .... if we could tip this poll

in favour of the bears that would thwart OFAH from using this poll to

further their pro-gun, pro-hunting agenda.

If we can do it here, we can do it elsewhere. PLEASE VOTE AGAIN and PASS IT

ON!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Animal rights laws need teeth

Amendments risk declawing long overdue new legislation

By LICIA CORBELLA <licia.corbella -- Calgary Sun

At around the same time that Henry Ford completed his first automobile in

1892, Canada passed its first and only animal protection law.

 

And, at around the same time that I was a rookie reporter at the Toronto

Star -- way back in 1987-88 -- I was writing stories about a new animal

protection law in Canada that if passed would actually have some teeth. That

was 15 years ago.

 

That same law, which has been amended and held, amended and held too many

times to count and is now called Bill C-10B, has still not passed and is

currently before the Senate, where new amendments have been written which

will declaw this law to the point that we may as well stick with the

toothless 1892 law. It is shameful.

 

The law we currently have allows for maximum sentences of only six months in

jail or a $2,000 fine for even the most heinous crimes against animals.

What's more, the perpetrator does not get a criminal record under the

current law.

 

The proposed new law will allow for five-year maximum sentences, unlimited

fines and up to a lifetime ban on animal ownership.

 

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has been reviewing the

Bill since December and is considering -- among other toothless amendments

-- exempting certain groups from animal cruelty provisions -- including

Aboriginals, farmers, hunters, trappers and researchers.

 

Now, I eat meat. There are few things I enjoy more than digging into a juicy

rib-eye or rack of lamb. This law does not target those people who put meat

on our tables. Ranchers treat their animals very well. But if a sadistic

animal torturer were to enter the business he should be dealt with and not

exempted.

 

What's more, a bill has already been passed that would require Crown

prosecutors to approve any private individuals or groups from launching

lawsuits against any rancher or farmer or whoever. In other words, those

animal rights' nuts, who think it's wrong to steam clams, wouldn't be able

to launch a lawsuit against a chowder house or against a rancher who brands

his animals. The Crown simply will not allow it and that is NOT what this

law targets.

 

Cathy Thomas, executive director of the Calgary Humane Society, points out

that no other groups are exempt from committing crimes. " Police officers and

doctors are not exempt from assault laws -- they have a duty to carry out

their activities responsibly. "

 

Thomas points out that in order for animal mistreatment to be considered a

crime, it must be proven that the person acted wilfully, recklessly or

negligently and that the pain or suffering cause was " unnecessary. " This

means that a person is permitted to cause substantial pain, suffering or

injury to an animal if it is NECESSARY to achieve a lawful purpose -- such

as farming, hunting, trapping, research or engaging in traditional

Aboriginal activities.

 

I believe animals should be protected from wilful and unnecessary cruelty in

their own right. They are creatures of God and as such they deserve to be

treated with respect and in a humane manner.

 

But for those people out there who care not a whit about the way animals are

treated there are other reasons why you should support this proposed law --

and that is YOUR safety.

 

Needless to say, it's time for a new law that doesn't treat the skinning of

animals while still alive just for the heck of it as a minor offence -- as

happened last year in Toronto.

 

Jesse Power, 23 and Tony Wennekers, 26, pleaded guilty to catching a stray

white tabby cat, gouging out one of its eyes, tearing off an ear, hanging

it, punching it, kicking it and then -- the main thing of " beauty " as they

called it, skinning it while still alive.

 

These upstanding citizens who taped the entire 17-minute episode got

relatively stiff sentences under that 111-year-old law. Power was sentenced

to 90 days in jail to be served on weekends and Wennekers to the 10 months

he served while awaiting trial, which included a mischief charge.

 

Most Canadians don't need convincing that such cruelty should be more

severely punished. But for those sickos who throw up the old " it's just an

animal " excuse, consider this. Had the cruelty to animals that Clifford

Olson displayed as a youngster been taken more seriously, perhaps those 11

children he raped, tortured and murdered would still be alive.

 

Had those who knew Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold become more alarmed and

acted on their propensity to smash in the heads of mice and set them on

fire, perhaps the 12 students and one teacher they gunned down at Columbine

High School in Colorado in 1999 would still be alive.

 

Dr. Randall Lockwood, a Washington, D.C., psychologist, a VP with the Humane

Society of the U.S. and one of the world's leading experts in the field of

animal cruelty, says it's impossible to find a model, law-abiding father who

also just happens to enjoy skinning cats alive in his spare time.

 

" While not everyone who abuses animals will become a serial killer;

virtually every serial killer first abused animals, " he says.

 

Jeffery Dahmer enjoyed staking cats to trees, decapitating dogs and impaling

frogs.

 

Had family, friends, teachers or casual observers followed what should have

been common sense and either sought help for this clearly dangerous

individual or incarceration, perhaps some of the 17 boys and men he

murdered, tortured and cannibalized might still be alive.

 

It's time -- after 111 years -- to put some teeth in our animal rights laws.

If you agree write Prime Minister Jean Chretien at: pm

 

Licia Corbella, editor of the Calgary Sun, can be reached at 403-250-4129 or

by e-mail at licia.corbella. Her columns appear Tuesday,

Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Letters to the editor should be sent to callet.

A. Gibson

Toronto Coalition for Anticruelty Legislation (Bill C10 AKA Bill C15b)

anne

http://www.anticruelty.ca

" Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change

the world.

In fact, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

 

 

------ End of Forwarded Message